Text "NDP" to 101010 to hear a message from Jack Layton, get a few details on campaign promises, donate, sign up for updates and get a link to the Jack Layton iPhone app, from which you can follow the campaign. The NDP is the only party to advertise the use of QR codes -- those black and white squares that let users interact with a printed page via their smartphones.

The other parties use standard online tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. According to the website politwitter.ca, as of March 30 just over half of current MPs are on Twitter (69 CPC, 57 LPC, 25 NDP, 17 BQ), along with 188 candidates (88 Liberals, 38 NDPers, 33 Greens, 19 Tories, and 4 Bloquistes), while 171 MPs have a Facebook page. But almost a week into the campaign, the Tories are the only party besides the NDP to go beyond the basics.

The Conservatives have Torynation.ca (lanationbleue.ca in French), a private social network where supporters can find friends in their riding, organize events, get talk-radio and letter-writing talking points and create fundraising campaigns. Users can create a separate account or log in using their existing Facebook account.

But so far in this campaign, only if you support Jack is there an app for that.